One of the things that has made Ghana, and Africa as a whole, distinct from the rest of the world is our rich cultural practices. Many Europeans travel to Ghana just to observe some of these unique cultural practices, which have been practiced for centuries.
Unfortunately, modernity has made some of them antique. For instance, the use of human beings for sacrifice has been abolished; animals are being used as a substitute. Because most of our traditional leaders are well educated nowadays, coupled with the respect for human rights, which is even recognised in our 1992 Republican Constitution, they do not subscribe to some of the old cultural practices that are very demeaning.
One of them is the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). For whatever reasons, some of the ethnic groups in Ghana, and even beyond, subscribe to the cutting of the clitoris. Some of them even consider it a taboo if a lady fails to cut her clitoris.
Whilst our forefathers did not see anything wrong with this barbaric cultural practice, today’s society sees it as an affront to the dignity and rights of girls.
It is based on this that Ghanaians have come to the conclusion that the practice must be outlawed. Unfortunately, whereas education is going on in every corner of the country to stop the practice, some of our traditional leaders do not want to give in and continue to inflict pain on young girls by cutting off the clitoris.
In our Tuesday issue, we reported one of such incidences from Brohani in the Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region, where the queenmother of the village had banished a 13 year old girl because she refused to undergo the FGM, and even went a step further by reporting the case to the police.
The Chronicle is a hundred percent sure that even if this queenmother had not gone to school, she is aware that this primitive cultural practice has been proscribed, yet she was bent on carrying out the act.
Since the case in still under investigation by the police, we rest our case and wait for the outcome of the probe.
This development, however, shows that the education on the issue has not trickled down to the people at the grassroots.
The Chronicle is, therefore, calling on Nana Oye Lithur’s ministry to design a simple campaign message, and carry it to every nook and cranny of this nation to educate our mothers and fathers about the need to stop outmoded cultural practices, since they have no space in this modern world.
To us, at The Chronicle, making noise on the radio stations and in the newspapers anytime such cases are reported is not enough.
The people must be well educated in the rural areas which sometimes cannot be reached by radio and newspapers. It is our hope that if this is done, it may not immediately end the violence being inflicted on the young girls, but will certainly help curb the practice.
In the nutshell, FGM is the violation of the fundamental human rights of our young girls, and those who carry out this crime in the name of culture must not be allowed to go scot-free.
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